Credit: The Associated Press

North Carolina guard Diamond DeShields, left, dribbles around South Carolina guard Tiffany Mitchell during the first half of a regional semifinal at the NCAA college basketball tournament in Stanford, Calif., Sunday, March 30, 2014. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

STANFORD, Calif. — Dawn Staley expects her young South Carolina team to be playing well into March for years to come.

The top-seeded Gamecocks never led in their 65-58 loss to No. 4 seed North Carolina in the Stanford Regional semifinals Sunday night, and Staley will find plenty of lessons from this game — this big stage — to motivate her young women moving forward.